Galaxy Rest-Frame UV Colors at z ~ 2-4 with HST UVCANDELS

We present an analysis of rest-frame UV colors of 17, 243 galaxies at z2-4 in the HST UVCANDELS fields: GOODS-N, GOODS-S, COSMOS, and EGS. Here, we study the rest-frame UV spectral slope, , measured via model spectra obtained via spectral energy distribution (SED) fitting, ₒ₄₃, and explore its correlation with various galaxy parameters (photometric redshift, UV magnitude, stellar mass, dust attenuation, star formation rate SFR, and specific SFR) obtained via SED fitting with Dense Basis. We also obtain measurements for via photometric power-law fitting and compare them to our SED-fit-based results, finding good agreement on average. While we find little evolution in with redshift from z=2-4 for the full population, there are clear correlations between (and related parameters) when binned by stellar mass. For this sample, lower stellar mass galaxies (logM_* = 7. 5-8. 5 M_) are typically bluer (ₒ₄₃=-2. 0 0. 2 / ₏₋ = -2. 10. 4), fainter (MUV = -17. 8^+0. 7-₀. ₆) less dusty (Av=0. 40. 1 mag), exhibit lower rates of star formation (logSFR=0. 10. 2 M_/ yr) and higher specific star formation rates (logsSFR=-8. 20. 2 \ yr^-1) than their high-mass counterparts. Higher-mass galaxies (logM_* =10. 0-12. 0 \ M_) are on average redder (ₒ₄₃=-0. 9^+0. 8-₀. ₅ / ₏₋=-1. 0^+0. 8-₀. ₅), brighter (MUV=-19. 6^+1. 0-₁. ₂), dustier (Av = 0. 9^+0. 5-₀. ₄ mag), have higher SFRs (logSFR=1. 2^+0. 6-₁. ₁ M_ yr), and lower sSFRs (logsSFR=-9. 1^+0. 5-₁. ₁ yr^-1). This study's substantial sample size provides a benchmark for demonstrating that the rest-frame UV spectral slope correlates with stellar mass-dependent galaxy characteristics at z2-4, a relationship less discernible with smaller datasets typically available at higher redshifts.